II 

Calendar No. 735 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4043 

[Report No. 118–315] 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to make executive agency telework 

policies transparent, to track executive agency use of telework, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 21, 2024 

Mr. PETERS (for himself and Ms. ERNST) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

Governmental Affairs 

DECEMBER 19 (legislative day, DECEMBER 16), 2024 

Reported by Mr. PETERS, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to make executive 

agency telework policies transparent, to track executive 

agency use of telework, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Telework Trans3 parency Act of 2024’’. 

4 SEC. 2. TELEWORK POLICY TRANSPARENCY AND TRACK5 ING. 

6 (a) MONITORING EXECUTIVE AGENCY TELEWORK

7 POLICIES AND REQUIRING TRANSPARENCY.— 

8 (1) TELEWORK ELIGIBILITY POLICY.—Section 

9 6502(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code, is amend10 ed— 

11 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

12 (A), by striking ‘‘Not later than 180 days after 

13 the date of enactment of this chapter, the’’ and 

14 inserting ‘‘The’’; 

15 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

16 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

17 (C) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 

18 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

19 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘(D) not later than 180 days after the 

21 date of enactment of this subparagraph, and as 

22 updates are made thereafter— 

23 ‘‘(i) submit to the Director of the Of24 fice of Personnel Management a descrip25 tion of the policy established under subVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Dec 20, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4043.RS S4043

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1 paragraph (A), or any successor policy; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(ii) make publicly available on the 

4 website of the executive agency the most 

5 current version of the policy described in 

6 clause (i).’’. 

7 (2) TRAINING AND MONITORING.—Section 6503 

8 of title 5, United States Code, is amended by adding 

9 at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(c) MONITORING EMPLOYEE USE OF TELEWORK.— 

11 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

12 ‘Shared Service Centers’ has the meaning given the 

13 term in section 850.103 of title 5, Code of Federal 

14 Regulations, or any successor regulation. 

15 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMON DATA

16 STANDARDS; DATA REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.— 

17 Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment 

18 of this subsection, in part to aid in the collection of 

19 data for the purposes of satisfying the reporting re20 quirements under section 6506, the Director of the 

21 Office of Personnel Management shall establish— 

22 ‘‘(A) executive agency telework data re23 porting requirements, including required time24 frames for reporting; 


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1 ‘‘(B) data standards and protocols for 

2 tracking employee use of telework; 

3 ‘‘(C) best practices and training for man4 agers of employees who telework to review and 

5 verify the amount of a locality payment, as de6 fined in section 531.602 of title 5, Code of Fed7 eral Regulations (or any successor regulation), 

8 paid to such an employee; 

9 ‘‘(D) internal controls for data quality with 

10 respect to the use of telework, including proce11 dures to— 

12 ‘‘(i) consistently monitor system-gen13 erated errors; 

14 ‘‘(ii) produce reports on adherence to 

15 data standards and edit rules; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) ensure prompt action to address 

17 issues identified in clauses (i) and (ii); and 

18 ‘‘(E) mechanisms to provide regular feed19 back to executive agencies and Shared Service 

20 Centers on data quality with respect to 

21 telework, which shall include the provision of 

22 any human capital data needed to evaluate 

23 telework practices. 

24 ‘‘(3) ESTABLISHMENT OF AUTOMATED

25 TELEWORK TRACKING SYSTEMS WITHIN PAYROLL


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1 SYSTEMS.—The head of each executive agency, in 

2 consultation (where applicable) with each Shared 

3 Service Center that provides payroll or human re4 sources services to that executive agency, shall es5 tablish telework tracking within each payroll system 

6 that— 

7 ‘‘(A) is automated; and 

8 ‘‘(B) conforms to— 

9 ‘‘(i) the telework data standards and 

10 coding requirements issued by the Director 

11 of the Office of Personnel Management; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(ii) the requirements established by 

14 the Director of the Office of Personnel 

15 Management under paragraph (2). 

16 ‘‘(4) ESTABLISHMENT OF ONLINE TOOL.—Not 

17 later than 2 years after the date of enactment of 

18 this subsection, the Director of the Office of Per19 sonnel Management shall establish and maintain a 

20 publicly available online tool that— 

21 ‘‘(A) makes available the data required to 

22 be reported under paragraph (2) in an appro23 priate and readable format; 

24 ‘‘(B) incorporates appropriate protections 

25 for personal and sensitive information; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) uses data visualization or other data 

2 presentation techniques to support strategic ex3 ecutive agency workforce planning and talent 

4 management objectives. 

5 ‘‘(d) MONITORING THE EFFECTS OF TELEWORK ON

6 OFFICE BUILDING SPACE UTILIZATION AND EXECUTIVE

7 AGENCY PERFORMANCE.—The head of each executive 

8 agency shall— 

9 ‘‘(1) establish a system to track office building 

10 space utilization rates that aligns with guidance and 

11 benchmarks issued by the Director of the Office of 

12 Management and Budget, in coordination with the 

13 Administrator of General Services and the Federal 

14 Real Property Council established by section 623(a) 

15 of title 40, under section 6504(b)(2)(A); 

16 ‘‘(2) identify a set of indicators, and establish 

17 routines using the indicators, to assess and monitor 

18 the effects of telework policy on the performance of 

19 the executive agency, including, as applicable to the 

20 mission of the executive agency— 

21 ‘‘(A) indicators related to— 

22 ‘‘(i) customer experience and service, 

23 including backlogs and wait times; 

24 ‘‘(ii) security; 

25 ‘‘(iii) cost to operations; 


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1 ‘‘(iv) the management of real property 

2 and personal property; 

3 ‘‘(v) investments in network capacity 

4 or communications infrastructure, includ5 ing technology capabilities to improve effi6 ciency and reduce the use of outdated tech7 nology; and 

8 ‘‘(vi) the ability of the executive agen9 cy to recruit and retain top talent; and 

10 ‘‘(B) any other indicator determined ap11 propriate by the head of the executive agency, 

12 including as the result of policy and policy guid13 ance provided under section 6504(b)(2)(B); 

14 ‘‘(3) not later than 180 days after the date of 

15 enactment of this subsection, and as updates are 

16 made thereafter— 

17 ‘‘(A) submit to the Director of the Office 

18 of Management and Budget and the Director of 

19 the Office of Personnel Management a descrip20 tion of the indicators and routines described in 

21 paragraph (2); and 

22 ‘‘(B) make publicly available on the 

23 website of the executive agency the most cur24 rent version of the indicators and routines de25 scribed in paragraph (2); and 


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1 ‘‘(4) with respect to the office building space 

2 utilization rates described in paragraph (1)— 

3 ‘‘(A) include those rates in the budget jus4 tification materials (as defined in section 

5 3(b)(2) of the Federal Funding Accountability 

6 and Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 

7 note)) of the executive agency; and 

8 ‘‘(B) make those rates publicly available.’’. 

9 (3) TELEWORK WEBSITE.—Section 6504(e)(2) 

10 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

11 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

12 ‘‘telework links’’ and inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘links to Government websites, including a 

14 compilation of links to executive agency 

15 websites with descriptions of telework policies 

16 and indicators and routines described in sec17 tions 6502(a)(1)(D) and 6503(d)(2), respec18 tively’’; and 

19 (B) in subparagraph (D)— 

20 (i) by striking ‘‘, and the General 

21 Services Administration’’ and inserting ‘‘, 

22 the General Services Administration, and 

23 the Department of State’’; and 

24 (ii) by striking ‘‘10’’ and inserting 

25 ‘‘30’’. 


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1 (b) ESTABLISHING BENCHMARKS AND PROVIDING

2 GUIDANCE.—Section 6504(b) of title 5, United States 

3 Code, is amended— 

4 (1) in paragraph (3), by redesignating subpara5 graphs (A), (B), and (C) as clauses (i), (ii), and 

6 (iii), respectively, and adjusting the margins accord7 ingly; 

8 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and 

9 (3) as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), and adjust10 ing the margins accordingly; 

11 (3) by striking ‘‘The Office of Personnel Man12 agement shall’’ and inserting the following: 

13 ‘‘(1) OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT.— 

14 The Office of Personnel Management shall’’; and 

15 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(2) OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET.— 

17 The Director of the Office of Management and 

18 Budget shall take the following actions: 

19 ‘‘(A) In coordination with the Adminis20 trator of General Services and the Federal Real 

21 Property Council established by section 623(a) 

22 of title 40, the following actions: 

23 ‘‘(i) Develop benchmarks for meas24 uring office building space utilization that 

25 account for the use of telework. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) Provide guidance to each execu2 tive agency for collecting office building 

3 space occupancy data regarding the aver4 age daily onsite attendance in the office 

5 building space owned or leased by the exec6 utive agency. 

7 ‘‘(iii) Establish office building space 

8 utilization rate goals for each executive 

9 agency of not less than 60 percent. 

10 ‘‘(iv) Until the benchmarks described 

11 in clause (i) are developed, and the guid12 ance described in clause (ii) is provided, 

13 ensure that each executive agency, not less 

14 frequently than quarterly, uses the fol15 lowing formula to calculate office building 

16 space utilization with respect to the office 

17 building space that the executive agency 

18 leases or owns: 

19 ‘‘(I) Calculate the usable square 

20 feet of the office building space so 

21 leased or owned, which shall be cal22 culated— 

23 ‘‘(aa) by using the portion of 

24 that office building space that is 

25 available for occupants, including 


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1 offices, team rooms, and con2 ference rooms; and 

3 ‘‘(bb) in accordance with the 

4 standard methods of measure5 ment developed by the Building 

6 Owners and Managers Associa7 tion International, as approved 

8 by the American National Stand9 ards Institute. 

10 ‘‘(II) Divide the number of usa11 ble square feet calculated under sub12 clause (I) by 180. 

13 ‘‘(III) Divide the daily average of 

14 the number of individuals who are 

15 present working in the space that is 

16 the subject of the calculation under 

17 subclause (I) by the quotient obtained 

18 under subclause (II), which shall be 

19 expressed as a percentage. 

20 ‘‘(B) In coordination with the Director of 

21 the Office of Personnel Management and the 

22 Administrator of General Services, provide pol23 icy and policy guidance for the indicators and 

24 routines described in section 6503(d)(2), includVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Dec 20, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4043.RS S4043

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1 ing with respect to the identification of addi2 tional indicators under section 6503(d)(2)(B).’’. 

3 (c) CONTINUITY OF OPERATIONS.—Section 6504(d) 

4 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in the subsection heading, by striking 

6 ‘‘PLANS’’; 

7 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1) and (2) as 

8 paragraphs (2) and (3), respectively; and 

9 (3) by inserting before paragraph (2), as so re10 designated, the following: 

11 ‘‘(1) EMERGENCY INCIDENTS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION.—In this paragraph, the 

13 term ‘emergency incident’ means an event that, 

14 as determined by the head of an executive agen15 cy, would pose a threat to the life, health, or 

16 safety of an employee, or a group of employees, 

17 of the executive agency if the employee, or 

18 group of employees, were to report to the work19 site of the employee or group of employees. 

20 ‘‘(B) TELEWORK DURING EMERGENCY IN21 CIDENTS.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

22 of law, the head of an executive agency may re23 quire that an employee, or a group of employ24 ees, of the executive agency telework during an 

25 emergency incident under procedures estabVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Dec 20, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4043.RS S4043

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1 lished by the Director of the Office of Personnel 

2 Management.’’. 

3 (d) REPORTS.—Section 6506(b) of title 5, United 

4 States Code, is amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

6 (A) by striking subparagraphs (D) and 

7 (E); 

8 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as 

9 subparagraph (D); 

10 (C) in subparagraph (D), as so redesig11 nated— 

12 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 

13 by striking ‘‘agency participation rate 

14 goals during the reporting period, and 

15 other’’; 

16 (ii) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘and 

17 carbon emissions’’ after ‘‘use’’; 

18 (iii) in clause (v), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

19 the end; 

20 (iv) in clause (vi), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

21 at the end; and 

22 (v) by inserting after clause (vi) the 

23 following: 

24 ‘‘(vii) the ability of the agency to dis25 pose of or consolidate unnecessary and unVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Dec 20, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4043.RS S4043

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1 derutilized space or property, including to 

2 reduce the monetary and environmental 

3 cost of maintaining that space or property; 

4 and 

5 ‘‘(viii) customer experience and serv6 ice, including backlogs and wait times;’’; 

7 and 

8 (D) by inserting after subparagraph (D), 

9 as so redesignated, the following: 

10 ‘‘(E) an explanation of whether or not each 

11 executive agency met the goals described in sub12 paragraph (D) for the last reporting period 

13 and, if not, what actions are being taken to 

14 identify and eliminate barriers to meeting those 

15 goals for the next reporting period; and 

16 ‘‘(F) what actions each executive agency 

17 has taken since the last reporting period, and 

18 any additional steps the executive agency is 

19 planning to take, to— 

20 ‘‘(i) ensure oversight and quality con21 trol with respect to telework; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) increase the utilization rates of 

23 office building space owned or leased by 

24 the executive agency to not less than 60 

25 percent (or any higher rate established by 


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1 the Director of the Office of Management 

2 and Budget under section 6504(b)(2)(A)); 

3 and’’; and 

4 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(3) USE OF ONLINE TOOL.—Notwithstanding 

6 any other provision of this subsection, the Director 

7 of the Office of Personnel Management may elect to 

8 carry out this subsection, in whole or in part, 

9 through the online tool established under section 

10 6503(c)(4).’’. 

11 (e) REGULATORY AUTHORITY OVER AGENCY

12 TELEWORK POLICY.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 65 of title 5, United 

14 States Code, is amended by adding at the end the 

15 following: 

16 ‘‘§ 6507. Regulatory authority 

17 ‘‘The Director of the Office of Personnel Manage18 ment may prescribe regulations to carry out this chap19 ter.’’. 

20 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND21 MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 65 of title 

22 5, United States Code, is amended by adding at the 

23 end the following: 

‘‘6507. Regulatory authority.’’. 

24 SEC. 3. GAO AUDITS AND REPORTS. 

25 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT2 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional com3 mittees’’ means— 

4 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

5 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

6 (B) the Committee on Oversight and Ac7 countability of the House of Representatives; 

8 and 

9 (C) any other congressional committee de10 termined appropriate by the Comptroller Gen11 eral. 

12 (2) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—The term 

13 ‘‘Comptroller General’’ means the Comptroller Gen14 eral of the United States. 

15 (3) EMPLOYEE; EXECUTIVE AGENCY; 

16 TELEWORK.—The terms ‘‘employee’’, ‘‘executive 

17 agency’’, and ‘‘telework’’ have the meanings given 

18 those terms in section 6501 of title 5, United States 

19 Code. 

20 (4) EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Ex21 ecutive department’’ has the meaning given the term 

22 in section 101 of title 5, United States Code. 

23 (5) LOCALITY PAYMENT; OFFICIAL WORK24 SITE.—The terms ‘‘locality payment’’ and ‘‘official 

25 worksite’’ have the meanings given those terms in 


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1 section 531.602 of title 5, Code of Federal Regula2 tions, or any successor regulation. 

3 (b) OFFICE BUILDING SPACE UTILIZATION.—The 

4 Comptroller General shall conduct, and submit to Con5 gress a report with respect to, the following audits: 

6 (1) For each of the first 3 fiscal years that be7 gins after the date of enactment of this Act, an 

8 audit of— 

9 (A) the measurements made under the 

10 benchmarks developed under section 

11 6504(b)(2)(A)(i) of title 5, United States Code, 

12 as added by section 2 of this Act; or 

13 (B) if the Director of the Office of Man14 agement and Budget has not developed the 

15 benchmarks described in subparagraph (A) as 

16 of the first day of the fiscal year in which the 

17 audit is scheduled to be performed, the calcula18 tions made by executive agencies under section 

19 6504(b)(2)(A)(iv) of title 5, United States 

20 Code, as added by section 2 of this Act. 

21 (2) An audit of the benchmarks developed by 

22 the Director of the Office of Management and Budg23 et under section 6504(b)(2)(A)(i) of title 5, United 

24 States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act, inVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Dec 20, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S4043.RS S4043

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1 cluding any changes to those benchmarks that are 

2 made after the benchmarks are first developed. 

3 (3)(A) An audit of each system established to 

4 track office building space utilization rates, as re5 quired under section 6503(d)(1) of title 5, United 

6 States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act. 

7 (B) The Comptroller General shall conduct the 

8 audit required under subparagraph (A) once for 

9 each of the first 3 fiscal years that begins after the 

10 fiscal year in which the Director of the Office of 

11 Management and Budget develops the benchmarks 

12 required under section 6504(b)(2)(A)(i) of title 5, 

13 United States Code, as added by section 2 of this 

14 Act, after which the Comptroller General shall con15 duct that audit— 

16 (i) not more frequently than once each fis17 cal year; and 

18 (ii) upon request by any Member of Con19 gress. 

20 (c) VERIFYING OFFICIAL WORKSITE AND LOCALITY

21 PAYMENT ACCURACY.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General 

23 shall— 

24 (A) not later than 180 days after the date 

25 of enactment of this Act, brief the appropriate 


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1 congressional committees on how Executive de2 partments determine the official worksite for an 

3 employee who teleworks, especially for the pur4 pose of determining the amount of a locality 

5 payment paid to such an employee; and 

6 (B) not later than 1 year after the date on 

7 which the Comptroller General provides the 

8 briefing required under subparagraph (A), sub9 mit to the appropriate congressional committees 

10 a report regarding the matters described in that 

11 subparagraph. 

12 (2) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report re13 quired under paragraph (1)(B) shall include an as14 sessment of— 

15 (A) how Executive departments— 

16 (i) ensure that employees regularly re17 port to the official worksite of those em18 ployees; and 

19 (ii) use the authorities under section 

20 531.605(d)(2) of title 5, Code of Federal 

21 Regulations, or any successor regulation, 

22 including an assessment of— 

23 (I) the frequency with which Ex24 ecutive departments use those au25 thorities; and 


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1 (II) the average duration that 

2 employees telework under an excep3 tion granted under such section 

4 531.605(d)(2); and 

5 (B) the oversight practices that Executive 

6 departments use to review and verify the 

7 amount of a locality payment paid to an em8 ployee who teleworks. 

9 (3) RECURRING ANALYSIS.—With respect to the 

10 practices described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 

11 paragraph (2), the Comptroller General shall take 

12 the following actions: 

13 (A) Assess those practices once for each of 

14 the 5 fiscal years that begins after the fiscal 

15 year in which the Comptroller General submits 

16 the report required under paragraph (1)(B) and 

17 submit to the appropriate congressional com18 mittees a report if the Comptroller General de19 termines that there have been any changes to 

20 those practices since the last such assessment 

21 performed by the Comptroller General. 

22 (B) After carrying out subparagraph (A) 

23 of this paragraph, conduct an assessment de24 scribed in such subparagraph (A)— 


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1 (i) not more frequently than once each 

2 fiscal year, which shall include the submis3 sion to the appropriate congressional com4 mittees of a report if the Comptroller Gen5 eral determines that there have been any 

6 changes to those practices since the last 

7 such assessment performed by the Comp8 troller General; and 

9 (ii) upon request by any Member of 

10 Congress. 

11 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

12 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Telework Transparency 

13 Act of 2024’’. 

14 SEC. 2. TELEWORK POLICY TRANSPARENCY AND TRACKING. 

15 (a) MONITORING EXECUTIVE AGENCY TELEWORK

16 POLICIES AND REQUIRING TRANSPARENCY.— 

17 (1) TELEWORK ELIGIBILITY POLICY.—Section 

18 6502(a)(1) of title 5, United States Code, is amend19 ed— 

20 (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 

21 (A), by striking ‘‘Not later than 180 days after 

22 the date of enactment of this chapter, the’’ and 

23 inserting ‘‘The’’; 

24 (B) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

25 at the end; 


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1 (C) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 

2 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

3 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(D) not later than 180 days after the date 

5 of enactment of this subparagraph, and as up6 dates are made thereafter— 

7 ‘‘(i) submit to the Director of the Office 

8 of Personnel Management a description of 

9 the policy established under subparagraph 

10 (A), or any successor policy; and 

11 ‘‘(ii) make publicly available on the 

12 website of the executive agency the most cur13 rent version of the policy described in clause 

14 (i).’’. 

15 (2) TRAINING AND MONITORING.—Section 6503 

16 of title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

17 (A) in subsection (a)— 

18 (i) by redesignating paragraphs (3) 

19 and (4) as paragraphs (4) and (5), respec20 tively; and 

21 (ii) by inserting after paragraph (2) 

22 the following: 

23 ‘‘(3) managers of teleworkers, using appropriate 

24 methods, track and evaluate the performance of tele25 workers, including with respect to the completion of 


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1 tasks associated with the duties, responsibilities, and 

2 authorized activities of teleworkers;’’; and 

3 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(c) MONITORING EMPLOYEE USE OF TELEWORK.— 

5 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION.—In this subsection, the term 

6 ‘Shared Service Centers’ has the meaning given the 

7 term in section 850.103 of title 5, Code of Federal 

8 Regulations, or any successor regulation. 

9 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMON DATA STAND10 ARDS; DATA REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Not later 

11 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this sub12 section, in part to aid in the collection of data for the 

13 purposes of satisfying the reporting requirements 

14 under section 6506, the Director of the Office of Per15 sonnel Management shall establish— 

16 ‘‘(A) executive agency telework data report17 ing requirements, including required timeframes 

18 for reporting; 

19 ‘‘(B) data standards and protocols for 

20 tracking employee use of telework; 

21 ‘‘(C) best practices and training for man22 agers of employees who telework to review and 

23 verify the amount of a locality payment, as de24 fined in section 531.602 of title 5, Code of FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Dec 20, 2024 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6203 E:\BILLS\S4043.RS S4043

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1 eral Regulations (or any successor regulation), 

2 paid to such an employee; 

3 ‘‘(D) internal controls for data quality with 

4 respect to the use of telework, including proce5 dures to— 

6 ‘‘(i) consistently monitor system-gen7 erated errors; 

8 ‘‘(ii) produce reports on adherence to 

9 data standards and edit rules; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) ensure prompt action to address 

11 issues identified in clauses (i) and (ii); and 

12 ‘‘(E) mechanisms to provide regular feed13 back to executive agencies and Shared Service 

14 Centers on data quality with respect to telework, 

15 which shall include the provision of any human 

16 capital data needed to evaluate telework prac17 tices. 

18 ‘‘(3) ESTABLISHMENT OF AUTOMATED

19 TELEWORK TRACKING SYSTEMS WITHIN PAYROLL SYS20 TEMS.—The head of each executive agency, in con21 sultation (where applicable) with each Shared Service 

22 Center that provides payroll or human resources serv23 ices to that executive agency, shall establish telework 

24 tracking within each payroll system that— 

25 ‘‘(A) is automated; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) conforms to— 

2 ‘‘(i) the telework data standards and 

3 coding requirements issued by the Director 

4 of the Office of Personnel Management; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) the requirements established by 

6 the Director of the Office of Personnel Man7 agement under paragraph (2). 

8 ‘‘(4) ESTABLISHMENT OF ONLINE TOOL.—Not 

9 later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this 

10 subsection, the Director of the Office of Personnel 

11 Management shall establish and maintain a publicly 

12 available online tool that— 

13 ‘‘(A) makes the data required to be reported 

14 under paragraph (2), including the average 

15 number of days per period that eligible employ16 ees telework, available in an appropriate and 

17 readable format; 

18 ‘‘(B) incorporates appropriate protections 

19 for personal and sensitive information reported 

20 under paragraph (2); and 

21 ‘‘(C) uses data visualization or other data 

22 presentation techniques to support strategic exec23 utive agency workforce planning and talent 

24 management objectives. 


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1 ‘‘(d) MONITORING THE EFFECTS OF TELEWORK ON

2 OFFICE SPACE UTILIZATION AND EXECUTIVE AGENCY PER3 FORMANCE.—The head of each executive agency shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) establish a system to track office space utili5 zation rates that aligns with guidance and bench6 marks issued by the Director of the Office of Manage7 ment and Budget, in coordination with the Adminis8 trator of General Services and the Federal Real Prop9 erty Council established by section 623(a) of title 40, 

10 under section 6504(b)(2)(A); 

11 ‘‘(2) identify a set of indicators, and establish 

12 routines using the indicators, to assess and monitor 

13 the effects of telework policy on the performance of the 

14 executive agency, including, as applicable to the mis15 sion of the executive agency— 

16 ‘‘(A) indicators related to— 

17 ‘‘(i) customer experience and service, 

18 including backlogs and wait times; 

19 ‘‘(ii) security; 

20 ‘‘(iii) cost to operations; 

21 ‘‘(iv) the management of real property 

22 and related personal property; 

23 ‘‘(v) investments in network capacity 

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1 ciency and reduce the use of outdated tech2 nology; and 

3 ‘‘(vi) the ability of the executive agency 

4 to recruit and retain top talent; and 

5 ‘‘(B) any other indicator determined appro6 priate by the head of the executive agency, in7 cluding as the result of policy and policy guid8 ance provided under section 6504(b)(2)(B); 

9 ‘‘(3) not later than 180 days after the date of en10 actment of this subsection, and as updates are made 

11 thereafter— 

12 ‘‘(A) submit to the Director of the Office of 

13 Management and Budget and the Director of the 

14 Office of Personnel Management a description of 

15 the indicators and routines described in para16 graph (2); and 

17 ‘‘(B) make publicly available on the website 

18 of the executive agency the most current version 

19 of the indicators and routines described in para20 graph (2); and 

21 ‘‘(4) with respect to the office space utilization 

22 rates described in paragraph (1)— 

23 ‘‘(A) include those rates in the budget jus24 tification materials (as defined in section 3(b)(2) 

25 of the Federal Funding Accountability and 


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1 Transparency Act of 2006 (31 U.S.C. 6101 

2 note)) of the executive agency; and 

3 ‘‘(B) make those rates publicly available.’’. 

4 (3) TELEWORK WEBSITE.—Section 6504(e)(2) of 

5 title 5, United States Code, is amended— 

6 (A) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

7 ‘‘telework links’’ and inserting the following: 

8 ‘‘links to Government websites, including a com9 pilation of links to executive agency websites 

10 with descriptions of telework policies and indica11 tors and routines described in sections 

12 6502(a)(1)(D) and 6503(d)(2), respectively’’; and 

13 (B) in subparagraph (D)— 

14 (i) by striking ‘‘, and the General 

15 Services Administration’’ and inserting ‘‘, 

16 the General Services Administration, and 

17 the Department of State’’; and 

18 (ii) by striking ‘‘10’’ and inserting 

19 ‘‘30’’. 

20 (b) ESTABLISHING BENCHMARKS AND PROVIDING

21 GUIDANCE.—Section 6504(b) of title 5, United States Code, 

22 is amended— 

23 (1) in paragraph (3), by redesignating subpara24 graphs (A), (B), and (C) as clauses (i), (ii), and (iii), 

25 respectively, and adjusting the margins accordingly; 


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•S 4043 RS

1 (2) by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) 

2 as subparagraphs (A), (B), and (C), respectively, and 

3 adjusting the margins accordingly; 

4 (3) by striking ‘‘The Office of Personnel Manage5 ment shall’’ and inserting the following: 

6 ‘‘(1) OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT.—The 

7 Office of Personnel Management shall’’; and 

8 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

9 ‘‘(2) OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET.— 

10 The Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

11 shall take the following actions: 

12 ‘‘(A) In coordination with the Adminis13 trator of General Services and the Federal Real 

14 Property Council established by section 623(a) of 

15 title 40, the following actions: 

16 ‘‘(i) Develop benchmarks for measuring 

17 office space utilization that account for the 

18 use of telework. 

19 ‘‘(ii) Provide guidance to each execu20 tive agency for collecting office space occu21 pancy data regarding the average daily on22 site attendance in the office space owned or 

23 leased by the executive agency, which shall 

24 take into consideration— 


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1 ‘‘(I) duties of employees of the ex2 ecutive agency that involve official 

3 travel, mobile work, or other job func4 tions requiring such an employee to 

5 temporarily report to an offsite loca6 tion; 

7 ‘‘(II) variation within a year 

8 with respect to the number of employ9 ees of the executive agency taking 

10 scheduled or unscheduled leave and the 

11 duration of that leave; and 

12 ‘‘(III) data collected from swipes 

13 of Personal Identity Verification Cards 

14 or Common Access Cards, as applica15 ble, with appropriate protections for 

16 personally identifiable information. 

17 ‘‘(iii) Establish office space utilization 

18 rate goals for each executive agency— 

19 ‘‘(I) of not less than 60 percent; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(II) that takes into consideration 

22 the matters described in subclauses (I) 

23 and (II) of clause (ii). 

24 ‘‘(iv) Until the benchmarks described 

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1 ance described in clause (ii) is provided, en2 sure that each executive agency, not less fre3 quently than quarterly, uses the following 

4 formula to calculate office space utilization 

5 with respect to the office space that the exec6 utive agency leases or owns: 

7 ‘‘(I) Calculate the usable square 

8 feet of the office space so leased or 

9 owned— 

10 ‘‘(aa) by using the portion of 

11 that office space that is available 

12 for occupants, including offices, 

13 team rooms, and conference 

14 rooms; and 

15 ‘‘(bb) in accordance with the 

16 standard methods of measurement 

17 developed by the Building Owners 

18 and Managers Association Inter19 national, as approved by the 

20 American National Standards In21 stitute. 

22 ‘‘(II) Divide the number of usable 

23 square feet calculated under subclause 

24 (I) by 180. 


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1 ‘‘(III) Divide the daily average of 

2 the number of individuals, including 

3 contractors, who are present working 

4 in the space that is the subject of the 

5 calculation under subclause (I) by the 

6 quotient obtained under subclause (II), 

7 which shall be expressed as a percent8 age. 

9 ‘‘(B) In coordination with the Director of 

10 the Office of Personnel Management and the Ad11 ministrator of General Services, provide policy 

12 and policy guidance for the indicators and rou13 tines described in section 6503(d)(2), including 

14 with respect to the identification of additional 

15 indicators under section 6503(d)(2)(B).’’. 

16 (c) REPORTS.—Section 6506(b) of title 5, United 

17 States Code, is amended— 

18 (1) in paragraph (2)— 

19 (A) by striking subparagraphs (D) and (E); 

20 (B) by redesignating subparagraph (F) as 

21 subparagraph (D); 

22 (C) in subparagraph (D), as so redesig23 nated— 


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1 (i) in the matter preceding clause (i), 

2 by striking ‘‘agency participation rate goals 

3 during the reporting period, and other’’; 

4 (ii) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘and 

5 carbon emissions’’ after ‘‘use’’; 

6 (iii) in clause (v), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

7 the end; 

8 (iv) in clause (vi), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

9 at the end; and 

10 (v) by inserting after clause (vi) the 

11 following: 

12 ‘‘(vii) the ability of the agency to dis13 pose of or consolidate unnecessary and un14 derutilized space or property, including to 

15 reduce the monetary and environmental cost 

16 of maintaining that space or property; and 

17 ‘‘(viii) customer experience and service, 

18 including backlogs and wait times;’’; and 

19 (D) by inserting after subparagraph (D), as 

20 so redesignated, the following: 

21 ‘‘(E) an explanation of whether each execu22 tive agency met the goals described in subpara23 graph (D) for the last reporting period and, if 

24 not, what actions are being taken to identify and 


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1 eliminate barriers to meeting those goals for the 

2 next reporting period; and 

3 ‘‘(F) what actions each executive agency has 

4 taken since the last reporting period, and any 

5 additional steps the executive agency is planning 

6 to take, to— 

7 ‘‘(i) ensure oversight and quality con8 trol with respect to telework; and 

9 ‘‘(ii) increase the utilization rates of 

10 office space owned or leased by the executive 

11 agency to not less than 60 percent (or any 

12 higher rate established by the Director of the 

13 Office of Management and Budget under 

14 section 6504(b)(2)(A)); and’’; and 

15 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(3) USE OF ONLINE TOOL.—Notwithstanding 

17 any other provision of this subsection, the Director of 

18 the Office of Personnel Management may elect to 

19 carry out this subsection, in whole or in part, through 

20 the online tool established under section 6503(c)(4).’’. 

21 (d) REGULATORY AUTHORITY OVER AGENCY

22 TELEWORK POLICY.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 65 of title 5, United 

24 States Code, is amended by adding inserting after sec25 tion 6505 the following: 


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1 ‘‘§ 6505A. Regulatory authority 

2 ‘‘The Director of the Office of Personnel Management 

3 may prescribe regulations to carry out this chapter.’’. 

4 (2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMEND5 MENT.—The table of sections for chapter 65 of title 5, 

6 United States Code, is amended by inserting after the 

7 item relating to section 6505 the following: 

‘‘6505A. Regulatory authority.’’. 

8 (e) REPORT FROM EXECUTIVE AGENCIES.— 

9 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection, the terms 

10 ‘‘employee’’, ‘‘executive agency’’, and ‘‘telework’’ have 

11 the meanings given those terms in section 6501 of title 

12 5, United States Code. 

13 (2) REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 1 year after 

14 the date of enactment of this Act, the head of each ex15 ecutive agency, in coordination with the Director of 

16 the Office of Personnel Management, the Chief 

17 Human Capital Officer of the executive agency, the 

18 Chief Information Officer of the executive agency, the 

19 Director of the Office of Management and Budget, 

20 and the Administrator of General Services, shall sub21 mit to the Committee on Homeland Security and 

22 Governmental Affairs of the Senate and the Com23 mittee on Oversight and Accountability of the House 

24 of Representatives a report that identifies— 


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1 (A) what metrics and methods the executive 

2 agency has used to determine the productivity of 

3 employees who telework; 

4 (B) any effects of telework, including the ef5 fects of telework on— 

6 (i) costs; 

7 (ii) security; 

8 (iii) employee morale; 

9 (iv) employee productivity; and 

10 (v) waste, fraud, or abuse; 

11 (C) barriers that prevent the executive agen12 cy from meeting in-person work targets, if appli13 cable; and 

14 (D) any initiatives of the executive agency 

15 to address the barriers described in subpara16 graph (C). 

17 SEC. 3. GAO AUDITS AND REPORTS. 

18 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

19 (1) AGENCY.—The term ‘‘agency’’ means an 

20 agency described in section 901(b) of title 31, United 

21 States Code. 

22 (2) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT23 TEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congressional commit24 tees’’ means— 


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1 (A) the Committee on Homeland Security 

2 and Governmental Affairs of the Senate; 

3 (B) the Committee on Oversight and Ac4 countability of the House of Representatives; and 

5 (C) any other congressional committee de6 termined appropriate by the Comptroller Gen7 eral. 

8 (3) COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—The term ‘‘Comp9 troller General’’ means the Comptroller General of the 

10 United States. 

11 (4) EMPLOYEE; EXECUTIVE AGENCY; 

12 TELEWORK.—The terms ‘‘employee’’, ‘‘executive agen13 cy’’, and ‘‘telework’’ have the meanings given those 

14 terms in section 6501 of title 5, United States Code. 

15 (5) LOCALITY PAYMENT; OFFICIAL WORKSITE.— 

16 The terms ‘‘locality payment’’ and ‘‘official worksite’’ 

17 have the meanings given those terms in section 

18 531.602 of title 5, Code of Federal Regulations, or 

19 any successor regulation. 

20 (b) OFFICE SPACE UTILIZATION.—The Comptroller 

21 General shall conduct, and submit to Congress a report with 

22 respect to, the following audits: 

23 (1) For each of the first 3 fiscal years that begins 

24 after the date of enactment of this Act, an audit of— 


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1 (A) the measurements made under the 

2 benchmarks developed under paragraph (2)(A)(i) 

3 of section 6504(b) of title 5, United States Code, 

4 as added by section 2 of this Act; or 

5 (B) if the Director of the Office of Manage6 ment and Budget has not developed the bench7 marks described in subparagraph (A) as of the 

8 first day of the fiscal year in which the audit is 

9 scheduled to be performed, the calculations made 

10 by executive agencies under paragraph (2)(A)(iv) 

11 of section 6504 of title 5, United States Code, as 

12 added by section 2 of this Act. 

13 (2) An audit of the benchmarks developed by the 

14 Director of the Office of Management and Budget 

15 under paragraph (2)(A)(i) of section 6504(b) of title 

16 5, United States Code, as added by section 2 of this 

17 Act, including any changes to those benchmarks that 

18 are made after the benchmarks are first developed. 

19 (3)(A) An audit of each system established to 

20 track office space utilization rates, as required under 

21 subsection (d)(1) of section 6503 of title 5, United 

22 States Code, as added by section 2 of this Act. 

23 (B) The Comptroller General shall conduct the 

24 audit required under subparagraph (A) once for each 

25 of the first 3 fiscal years that begins after the fiscal 


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1 year in which the Director of the Office of Manage2 ment and Budget develops the benchmarks required 

3 under paragraph (2)(A)(i) of section 6504(b) of title 

4 5, United States Code, as added by section 2 of this 

5 Act, after which the Comptroller General shall con6 duct that audit— 

7 (i) not more frequently than once each fiscal 

8 year; and 

9 (ii) upon request by any Member of Con10 gress. 

11 (c) VERIFYING OFFICIAL WORKSITE AND LOCALITY

12 PAYMENT ACCURACY.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Comptroller General 

14 shall— 

15 (A) not later than 180 days after the date 

16 of enactment of this Act, brief the appropriate 

17 congressional committees on how agencies deter18 mine the official worksite for an employee who 

19 teleworks, especially for the purpose of deter20 mining the amount of a locality payment paid 

21 to such an employee; and 

22 (B) not later than 1 year after the date on 

23 which the Comptroller General provides the brief24 ing required under subparagraph (A), submit to 

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1 port regarding the matters described in that sub2 paragraph. 

3 (2) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report required 

4 under paragraph (1)(B) shall include an assessment 

5 of— 

6 (A) how agencies— 

7 (i) ensure that employees regularly re8 port to the official worksite of those employ9 ees; and 

10 (ii) use the authorities under section 

11 531.605(d)(2) of title 5, Code of Federal 

12 Regulations, or any successor regulation, 

13 including an assessment of— 

14 (I) the frequency with which agen15 cies use those authorities; and 

16 (II) the average duration that em17 ployees telework under an exception 

18 granted under such section 

19 531.605(d)(2); and 

20 (B) the oversight practices that agencies use 

21 to review and verify the amount of a locality 

22 payment paid to an employee who teleworks. 

23 (3) ADDITIONAL REPORTS.—With respect to the 

24 practices described in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of 

25 paragraph (2), the Comptroller General shall— 


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1 (A) assess those practices as of the date that 

2 is 2 years, and as of the date that is 4 years, 

3 after the date on which the Comptroller General 

4 submits the report required under paragraph 

5 (1)(B); and 

6 (B) submit to the appropriate congressional 

7 committees a report regarding each assessment 

8 conducted under subparagraph (A) of this para9 graph, which shall include a description of any 

10 changes to those practices since the last such as11 sessment conducted by the Comptroller General. 

12 SEC. 4. NO ADDITIONAL FUNDS. 

13 No additional funds are authorized to be appropriated 

14 for the purpose of carrying out this Act or the amendments 

15 made by this Act. 


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Calendar No. 735 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4043 

[Report No. 118–315] 

A BILL 

To amend title 5, United States Code, to make exDother purposes. track executive agency use of telework, and for ecutive agency telework policies transparent, to ECEMBER 19 (legislative day, DECEMBER 16), 2024 

Reported with an amendment 


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